Vienna Markets, episode 7. In which I pack up my melancholia and my nutcracker.

The final day of any trip is typically a melancholy occasion and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love the comforts of home:  aside from the Goldilocksian mattress we finally discovered about five years ago, it is our live-in feline patron and protector, Mamita, that we miss the most during our travels.  Knowing that Mamita is safely installed at home (with daily nanny visits, of course) gives us great comfort.  While we inevitably look forward to returning home to Mamita and our (it's hers until our return) "just right" mattress, it is always the sign of a successful trip if we are sad to pack up and go. Our final travel day is typically jam-packed with everything from my list that has not yet been completed and Vienna was no different.

After an early morning hop-on-hop-off transfer and our successful (un-Gilligan-like) three-hour tour at the flea market, we hopped back aboard our cozy chartered chariot and were whisked away to Vienna's MuseumsQuartier, a mega complex of museums built around a communal courtyard.

Visit the excellent website

mqw.at/en

for full info and lots of photos.

We couldn't leave Vienna without experiencing some Klimt and a little more history.  You could easily enjoy several days exploring all the museums in this convenient and ecclectic assemblage, including a children's museum, but we were now severely limited on time and were also faced with, you guessed it, a final (our eighth!) and unexpected Christmas market in the fountained path leading up to the MuseumsQuartier entrance. This was our final photo of the trip; at museums' close the spirited weekend market was falling into full festive swing.

A few final temptations, a few final photos, and a few final reflections...

The last evening of our fleamarketing journeys are always spent taking stock (of purchases and luggage space).  Past late (really late) night packing sessions have taught us a few lessons that have helped streamline the process.  You already know about the bubble wrap.  It doesn't add any weight to your luggage, even if you don't end up using all of it for its intended purpose.

Rule two of fleamarketing by air: save space for the return trip.  I know it's obvious, but you need to shop with that empty space in mind, too.  I bought that giant nutcracker near the end of our trip, knowing I still had about half an empty carry-on bag crying out for souvenir fulfillment.  How did I have half a pilot case still unassigned?  It came to Vienna empty, that's how.  I packed my "personal item" (multi-pocketed mega-backpack) inside it on the outbound journey so I'd have an empty suitcase available for homebound souvenirs.

Now, I've attempted this similar trick previously with a suitcase inside a checked suitcase, but that got pretty heavy and I don't recommend it unless you have very lightweight luggage and are planning some major bulk shopping like an expansively colorful quilt from the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet (another adventure for another time).  An oversize wok from Seattle and a similarly colossal paella pan from Barcelona also found their way into pre-planned luggage gaps, but yielded rather awkwardly unwieldy results.  It's up to you what you are willing to carry and/or inflict upon your spouse.  (I learned my lesson with the wok, trust me.)

Never ask your wife to pack a carbon-steel wok

with her intimates.

Before bidding a fond auf wiedersehen to the magnificent and magnificently welcoming city of Vienna I want to put in a good word for one of my favorite travel guide series.  DK Eyewitness Travel publishes "top 10" travel guides for many major countries and cities.  These pocket-sized guides (less than $15 each) include pull-out maps and feature a list of top 10 tourist attractions with each attraction then broken down into top 10 sites at each location (and you don't need a shiny gadget or wi-fi connection to read them).  I have a growing library of bookmarked, tagged, annotated, and otherwise travel-worn Top 10 guides and refer to them constantly while planning and taking journeys.

I've learned, however, like Maggie Smith's overbearingly misguided chaperone in A Room with a View, that remarkable things can happen without your Baedeker (or Top 10 Guide in my case) so don't be tied to any travel guide.

Finally, I would be remiss were I not to post a final favorite photo.
Mari's photographed Christmas market angel wings are literal, but, of course, I see them every time she is near.

Until next time.  Another market, another city, another collection 
(or two)

...or three.